


music to my ears

by cthcoll



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5SOS - Freeform, M/M, Muke - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-04-30 23:22:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14507709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cthcoll/pseuds/cthcoll
Summary: "How could you possibly teach me how to play this? You can't even hear it properly.""That's the thing with music, Michael. You don't need to hear so you know you're making it. You just need to feel it."Or in which Luke is a nearly deaf pianist and he doesn't want his work to be forgotten after he can't hear a single thing anymore.





	1. the audition disaster

**Author's Note:**

> i'm kinda happy with how this turned out.  
> plus i reposted it because it had a few mistakes that i wanted to get rid of! but it's no big deal.  
> hope you like it!

Nervous _._

Michael felt a lot of different things, but mostly nervous.

It was his first time playing in a concert with more than 20 people watching him from the audience. It certainly had more than 20 people, and it was freaking him out. As soon as he got up on the stage, he already knew he couldn't make a  _single_ mistake. He needed to be  _perfect_  if he wanted to get into the best music school in the state. That was his dream. He needed to make it come true or his life wouldn't make sense anymore. That was  _everything_  he ever wanted.

His suit felt tighter than before. His mouth felt drier than before. He would probably have a panick attack if he kept looking at the audience and imagining how things would go if he screwed up.

As soon as the old lady called his name, he knew it was now or never. That was his chance of proving he was good enough. He stretched his fingers and sat down in front of the enormous piano in front of him, the tiles looking scarier than usual. It seemed like he would get eaten alive by them. He took a deep breath, trying to focus on the only thing that really mattered.

When the maestro looked at him and nodded slightly, he began to play. His fingers ran through the tiles with no difficulties, since he was used to it. The orchestra full of other instruments accompanied the song he was playing, which was " _Nocturne_ _in_ _B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1_ " by Chopin.

He spent two months practicing it, and in the last rehearsals, he knew everything was perfect. He got to the point where he didn't make a single mistake. He was sure that it was perfect. He just needed to calm down and focus on the song, imagining that the only person in the room was no one but himself. He needed to imagine himself alone, just so he could play as perfectly as he did in his rehearsals.

He was doing just fine, no mistakes. The audience kept staring at him with no complaints.

And in that night, someone quite different was sitting in the audience. A blonde man with blue eyes and tired hands finally had enough money to see one of these concerts. He didn't have a reason to be there. He didn't have a son or a daughter trying to get into the school. He just wanted to see young talented people playing, because it made him happy. It made him know for sure that his passion wasn't dying. People were still interested in that, and they would still be for a long time.

Unfortunately, the tickets weren't that cheap. And the blonde man didn't get that much money from his job, which was just some hours working as a janitor. It was the best thing he could do. And when he finally had the opportunity to buy a ticket, he couldn't be happier. The last time he sat in the audience of one of these concerts... It was a long time ago.

Less than one minute until the song was over, and Michael felt the joy running through his veins when he realized he could actually make it. That was his dream coming true. Until he accidentally hit the wrong tile.

His hands stopped immediately, starting to shake not long after that. The audience looked at him with confused expressions, and he felt his cheeks starting to burn. He screwed up. He definitely screwed everything up.

He could feel the look of disapproval on his parents' faces when he looked at them in the audience. He knew he had just disappointed both of them, and probably everyone watching him. He was so close.

When the orchestra stopped playing as well, he knew that as soon as he stood up, he would have to deal with criticism. But he was so afraid of that. He was afraid of hearing what he already knew everybody was thinking. Afraid of his parents saying how much of a disappointment he was. He was their only child but was still not enough. Never enough.

He was tired of them saying that every time he would make a mistake. He knew he wasn't perfect, but his parents thought he should be. He had no other choice other than standing up, lowering his head and accepting the fact that he no longer had a chance to study in that school.

But he didn't do that. He stood up and looked at the audience for at least ten seconds before he just walked off the stage. That was it, he was done. He was done with everything, he just wanted to be alone.

He hid in a room where he knew no one would find him, feeling some teardrops falling down his face. That wasn't the ending he wanted. That wasn't his dream. His dream was over.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. "Come in." He said, trying to clean the tears off his face as fast as he could. He got quite confused because he thought this room was safe enough for him to cry his soul out. Turns out it wasn't that safe.

The door opened slowly, revealing an unknown face with a comforting expression. The face was a little bit familiar to him, maybe the guy was in the audience watching him. Oh, great. Another person that saw his gigantic failure.

"Do you want to talk about what just happened?" The man asked, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "Seems like you're sad."

"Oh, how did you find out?" Michael replied sarcastically, trying not to cry.

"You're still good." He tried to give Michael a sympathetic smile. "It was a huge deal to you and you made a mistake. You were nervous. That's the most natural thing that can happen in this situation. You're not perfect, no one is."

"And what do you know about that? Are you a teacher?"

"No, I was just... Just watching." The blonde man in front of him wasn't exactly proud of saying he was a janitor. "I like watching the students playing. They're good, and you're really good as well. I used to play a long time ago, and I see your potential. It's good."

Michael shook his head in disagreement.

"Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Can't you do another audition?"

Michael looked at him, with a little more hope than he had before. "In a few months, but why would I? To make this mistake again in front of everyone, just to give my parents another opportunity to yell at me and tell me that I'm their biggest disappointment? No, thanks."

"That's the point. I want to help you. Help you start making things for no one else but yourself, and improve some of your techniques. I want to be your teacher from now on. I think you're gonna go far, kid."

"And what makes you different than all the teachers my parents have paid to make me perfect?"

"I'm different because I don't want you to be perfect."

"I don't trust you."

"I'll give you reasons to trust me." He smirked. "Give me a shot. Just one. Forget about me if I'm not enough, if I'm not different than the other teachers your parents have gotten for you. Let me help you, let me prepare you for your next audition. I'm sure you'll make it."

Michael was considering giving him a shot, but he was still way confused.

"Why are you even trying to help me? You don't know me. You're a stranger."

"I'm Luke." The blonde man said. "Luke Hemmings. See? Not a stranger anymore. Now let me be your new teacher."

Michael sighed, nodding slowly. "Meet me here next Wednesday. Make sure no one sees you, including my parents. I'll go home if you're a liar. I'll call the police if you try to harass me. Just... Just don't let me down, ok? That's the only thing I'm holding on to right now. That's my only hope."

Luke nodded, and Michael left the room taking another deep breath. Even though he knew what was waiting for him, at least this time he had something to think about while his parents yelled at him. He wasn't going to tell anyone, but he would try making another audition.

No parents invited. Just him. Playing for no one else but himself... And maybe the cute guy who would soon become his new teacher.


	2. wednesday, may 4th, 2011

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Luke start their first day of practice together, and Michael couldn't be more excited to get to know the blonde man better.

A few days have passed since Michael and Luke talked for the first time, and Michael hasn't really thought that much about the blonde man willing to be his teacher.

He had more important things to do. Dealing with his parents, for example, consumed a lot of his time since his failure at the audition. His parents were so angry that they grounded him for days and he couldn't even leave his house to see his best friend. The only person in the world that he actually talks to.

But what could he do? It was his fault, after all. If he hadn't made that mistake, maybe his parents would be proud of him instead of angry.

He got to the point where he wasn't playing because he enjoyed it anymore. He was playing because he craved his parent's approval. He needed their approval to make sure he was doing the right thing. And he couldn't stop trying until he got it.

That's why Luke caught his attention in a way no one has ever done before, because Luke didn't seem to want him to play just for someone else's approval. He had this passion in his eyes like he has been doing this for a long time now. It made Michael trust him.

Luke, on the other hand, wasn't expecting to think that much about Michael, but he did. The red-haired boy's hands pressing the keys of the piano that day seemed so strange, but at the same time, oddly amusing. Luke could notice Michael was entirely nervous and wasn't playing passionately. But he saw a lot of potentials there. He knew the boy could use all of his passion when playing if he stopped being afraid of doing so.

He wanted to teach Michael how to play passionately like himself used to.

Michael set an alarm for Wednesday, in case he didn't remember that he needed to meet Luke at the theater. And when the time arrived, he realized how nervous he actually was. What if Luke wasn't a good teacher? What if he was one of those teachers who don't really teach you anything, and never stops judging you? Why was he so anxious about it, anyway?

It didn't take so long for him to get there, though. Luke had to take the bus because of course, he didn't have a car. And Michael didn't want his parents to know where he was going, so he just made up a random excuse involving his best friend, which was a great opportunity to get a free ride.

"Make sure you don't get harassed." A shorter guy with a darker skin tone said, giggling.

"I'm not gonna get harassed, Calum." Michael rolled his eyes. "Don't you think I know what I'm doing?"

"I don't know, man. You can't really trust men these days."

"Just go home already." He closed the car door, taking a step back. "I'll text you when I'm done."

While Calum drove away, Michael took a deep breath and got way more relieved when he noticed that the theater was pretty much empty. But somehow, the doors weren't locked, which was weird, because no one seemed to be working there in that day.

He tried to take gentle steps, in case someone noticed his presence. And when he got to the actual theater, tears nearly fell off his eyes. The memories of his audition going wrong were still stuck in his head, like a fresh memory. They weren't that easy to erase.

A thin and tall silhouette took him off his thoughts, making him smile softly when he noticed that Luke didn't forget about him. He was really there, standing in front of the piano where everything happened a week earlier.

"I forgot to ask you how old you are." Michael regretted saying this a few seconds later. That was the only thing he could think of, really?

"Much older than you, I assume." The blonde man chuckled. "I'm thirty-two."

"Oh, nice." Michael was expecting him to be a little older than that, for some reason. "You're eleven years older than me. Nice."

"You look scared." He kept laughing at Michael's expression. "I'm not going to do anything other than what I've promised. What do you think I am, Michael?"

Michael shrugged. "People can lie."

"I don't."

"Alright, then. I want to know who you are before you start teaching me anything." That caught Luke off guard since students don't usually want to know anything about their teachers. He just assumed Michael wanted to learn and be perfect to not disappoint his parents. But Michael was something else. "Since when do you play? Who taught you? Why did you start playing? Why I amaze you so much that you want me to be your student?"

Luke couldn't even find the right words to say. Michael wanting to know more about him made him more nervous than he should be, because he knew he wasn't interesting. His life wasn't something he liked to talk about, it wasn't exactly happy. His description of his own life would scare Michael away.

"I play since I was eleven. I lived next to a cafeteria that people in my neighborhood used to attend. I never had enough money to buy anything there, though. I used to live with my mom and my two older brothers. I had a few friends that would play with me close to that cafeteria, and one day when we were playing, we noticed something was different. They had bought a piano, and hired someone to play it all day long." A small smile suddenly appeared on his face, without him even noticing it. "I don't know what happened that day, I just know that I fell in love with the sound coming out of it. It's the oldest happy memory I have, actually. And I wanted so bad to do the same thing, to play it with the same passion he did, with the same skills he had... I begged my mom for years until she finally saved enough money to buy me one, it was the best gift I've ever received from someone. I taught myself how to play it since piano classes were too expensive. And I don't know, ever since then I just... I just play it."

Michael had no words in his head, not even one thing that he could use as a reply. He already knew in that exact moment; Luke would be a much better teacher than he thought.

"That's just..." He said, a little bit quieter. "Amazing. It's a great story, I-- I wasn't expecting this."

"That's just what?" The blonde man asked, looking at him with a confused expression.

Michael got even more confused. "That's just amazing. It's what I said."

"You did?" Luke forced a smile, good enough to make Michael think he was just distracted with the piano. "Oh-- yes, you did. I'm sorry. Um, can we start?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was a short one and i'm sorry about that! i'm usually busy with school 95% of the time, so i don't get enough time to write longer chapters-- but i'll do that as soon as possible! i just really wanted to keep updating this story and don't do the same thing i did with my previous stories, which was posting the first chapter and abandoning the story a while after it.  
> i appreciate so much all of your support, even if the previous chapter had just one comment, it still made my heart melt. and to the user who messaged me on twitter just to say how much they loved the story, i will never be able to thank you enough for the kind words! this means the world to me, really.  
> see you!!! xx


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